Days 91-92: On the Wrong Side of the World

May 9-10, 2006

It was late at night when our plane landed in Ecuador and we took our first
steps on the "wrong" side of the world :) (Guayaquil is slightly
below the equator line). Although a big port town, Guayaquil did not look
very active on Monday night, and neither did we. A room in a decent hotel
fulfilled all our needs for the night, and the official opening day of the
other America was postponed until the next morning.

The first major project on the other side was to look for the peculiarities
of South America. In general, Guayaquil did not appear much different from
a typical big city of Central America: similarly abundant budget hostels and
Internet cafes on every corner; lots of old-fashioned eateries, where every
meal necessarily comes with a ton of rice (rice only, though! - have not noticed
the legendary rice'n'beans combo anywhere); and, finally, similar hectic streets
full of old Russian Ladas and homicidal bus drivers. Only our favorite "chicken
buses" (old school buses imported from the States, typically repainted
in bright colors and assigned such indisputable names as "Rey de la Carretera"
(King of the Road), "Rey de Reyes" (The King of Kings) and alike;
frequently seen everywhere in Central America) had all remained above the
Darien Gap.
There is lots of music of all kinds in Ecuador. Seems like every Ecuadorian
either knows how to dance to impress (the honest-to-goodness truth: all the
Latin men are natural-born dancers!), or plays some musical instrument, or
at least has got a loud stereo player and is determined to share his hottest
salsa hit collection with the entire neighborhood. The contemporary folk music,
a.k.a. salsa, is, of course, on top, but other genres and popular bands can
also be heard playing or being played.

There is not much to see or do in Guayaquil, but it is possible to spend
a relatively pleasant day or two, in case you have to stay there for some
reason. Our reason was the car, which was arriving at the port of Guayaquil
two days later than us, and the low-priced tickets to the Galapagos (not sure
if $300 tickets for a 1.5 hour flight to the islands can be called low-priced,
but the flights originating in Guayaquil are cheaper than those from anywhere
else, including the capital Quito).

Notorious for being the most dangerous city of Ecuador, Guayaquil is evidently
trying hard to become safer, prettier and more interesting. The city has transformed
the once very dangerous waterfront street into the fancy "Malecon 2000":
an attractive 2.5km long boulevard along the Rio Guayas, filled with all sorts
of pieces of architecture, shops, restaurants and inexpensive snack bars.
There is also a visitor center offering free Internet access, and lots of
"Policia de Turismo" all over the place. If by any chance you do
not feel safe enough on Malecon 2000, continue to the artsy Las Penas district
situated at the northern end of the Malecon - we counted about 2 policemen
per tourist over there! Most of the wooden colonial houses of Las Penas have
been turned into pretty art galleries, while the top of the hill, Cerro Santa
Ana, opens fantastic views of the entire city. A dodgy area in the past, today
Cerro Santa Ana looks absolutely safe.

Tip #1: The main office of Banco de Guayaquil, located in the downtown
of Guayaquil, seems to be the only bank in town that has got a vague idea
about what a certified check (a money order) is, and sort of knows how to
issue one; however, that also depends on which bank employee you happen to
talk to!
Just to be on the safe side, upon arrival in Guayaquil we contacted APL de
Ecuador to make sure we had all the necessary papers in order and would be
able to pick up the cars on Thursday. Naturally, it turned out we had to pay
more money!! A $72-container-release-or-something fee could only be paid by
check or wire transfer because APL does not accept cash or credit card payments.
Since we have no bank account in Ecuador and could not transfer the funds,
we went in search for a certified check.
Getting one turned into a whole day project. Most of the banks either had
no idea what we were talking about, or suggested that we opened a bank account
in Ecuador (out of the question! - judging from the speed of other bank operations,
opening an account would probably take a year!).
Finally, one of the clerks at Banco de Guayaquil found a way to sell a money
order to us. In order to get one, we had to present a printed petition, stating
that we were really willing to buy a $72-value certified check :) Hand written
requests are not accepted! (The helpful lady at the information desk will
print it for you, just look helpless and ask nicely).

Click on the pictures to enlarge

Malecon 2000 along the Rio Guayas

Rio Guayas krantine Malecon 2000

Looks like we've just missed Che who stopped by to
have his portrait painted... and also the horse...